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MATTERLEY<br />
BASIN COULD<br />
STAGE 2020<br />
PRE-SEASON<br />
INTERNATIONAL<br />
AND TESTING<br />
DAYS<br />
The disappearance of Matterley<br />
Basin from the 2020<br />
MXGP provisional calendar<br />
provoked dismay within the<br />
sport. According to promoters<br />
Youthstream the removal<br />
of the British Grand Prix was<br />
due to unsustainable costs of<br />
running the event. Overseer of<br />
the part-time circuit and site,<br />
Steve Dixon – owner of the<br />
Bike it Kawasaki Dixon Racing<br />
Team – believes that the track<br />
could still entertain elite level<br />
motocross.<br />
Matterley Basin could even<br />
make a surprise return to the<br />
Grand Prix schedule with an<br />
amended agenda expected<br />
to be published next month.<br />
However if the British round<br />
remains unfeasible then Dixon<br />
is seriously contemplating a<br />
pre-season International with<br />
the possibility for world championship<br />
teams to also test<br />
around the popular Winchester-based<br />
course.<br />
“I’ve looked at doing an International<br />
in March,” Dixon<br />
said exclusively. “The weather<br />
can be good at that time. If we<br />
look recently in the UK – in the<br />
heart of summer – it has been<br />
atrocious in some places.”<br />
“2019 was the first year that<br />
the grand prix was viable,” he<br />
revealed as Matterley hosted<br />
round two of the current campaign<br />
for what was a risky<br />
slot for the British climate on<br />
March 23-24. “The costs have<br />
come down a lot and different<br />
suppliers have come in. It is a<br />
lot more economical and running<br />
the event in March. We<br />
saved 30-40% with some suppliers.<br />
Winchester Council are<br />
now a lot more confident with<br />
us and have cut down their<br />
request for police and traffic<br />
control. They know we want<br />
a good show and not cut any<br />
corners for organisation.”<br />
“The formula is there for an International<br />
and there would be<br />
less requirements than a GP<br />
regarding security and other<br />
factors,” he added. “It could be<br />
run on a lot lower budget and<br />
provide good prize money and<br />
that’s what attracts riders. As<br />
well as providing some time<br />
for set-up, where teams could<br />
ride and test afterwards on a<br />
GP-spec track.”<br />
Whether Matterley stages a<br />
Grand Prix or a non-championship<br />
meet (and Dixon<br />
typically only has a two week<br />
window per year for fixtures on<br />
account of planning permission)<br />
a decision will need to be<br />
made in the coming weeks.<br />
“Winchester contacted me last<br />
week in terms of event scheduling,”<br />
he said. “If we want a<br />
large scale meeting and they<br />
don’t have the resources available<br />
to monitor or advise then<br />
we wouldn’t be able to do it,<br />
so we’ll know within the next<br />
four weeks if there will be a<br />
GP offered or we go the international<br />
route.”<br />
With Matterley Basin potentially<br />
entering the British<br />
motocross landscape in an<br />
alternate capacity there could<br />
be ramifications for the Hawkstone<br />
Park International: a well<br />
established date on the Grand<br />
Prix pre-season agenda. Dixon<br />
believes the meetings could<br />
co-exist. “It would make sense<br />
for teams to do Hawkstone<br />
and Matterley and I don’t want<br />
to take away from Hawkstone<br />
but going back a few years we<br />
used to move from one French<br />
International to the next,” he<br />
says. “If the teams can benefit<br />
from a bit of time on the track<br />
as well as the race – either<br />
before or after – then it might<br />
be of extra value before flying<br />
away to somewhere like Argentina.<br />
That’s what I’d like to<br />
see.”
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